“Gunk Of Stars” Is Martin Crane’s Hyper-Saturated Take On Trap Music

Rock music to dab to, courtesy of the former Brazos frontman.

Brazos frontman Martin Crane took two very distinct and disparate approaches to his debut solo record, Physical Therapy: he first recorded the album as a live performance, backed by friends Ian Chang and Spencer Zahn (of Son Lux and Twin Shadow, respectively); he then re-recorded the entire album as a solo project using Ableton. Then he mixed both takes together to create a sound that is equal parts man and machine. "The basic idea was that we were trying to play trap music from a rock band perspective," Crane told The FADER.

"Gunk Of Stars" embodies this ethos completely: it has the oomph of a band's live performance, but with a layer of icy synths underpinning it that sounds eerily like those used on ILoveMakonnen's "I Don't Sell Molly No More." Think of it as rock music you could dab to. Crane's lyrics, meanwhile, communicate frustrations and impatience with social media: We'll forget these fossils, these dumb dinosaurs/in this great museum, you'll hear our footsteps roar, he sings.

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Check out "Gunk Of Stars" and be on the look-out for Physical Therapy, out digitally on November 20 via INSCAPE.